Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Consolidated Nuclear Security, which operates the Y-12 National Security Site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is seeking contractors to undertake a sweeping utilities upgrade at the site. For the Utility Upgrades and Equipment Project (UUEP), Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) wants a contractor to perform site demolition and preparation and installation of new utilities. CNS wants a […]

After doling out $62 million in fiscal year 2022 for establishing a domestic supply of the medical isotope molybdenum-99, the Department of Energy has zeroed out funding for cooperative agreements with companies that can do the work without using highly enriched uranium. At least $62 million was payed out through the program in fiscal year […]

The Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, has a new Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board resident inspector as of Monday. Austin Holloway, a former explosives engineer at the Naval Air Warfare (NAVAIR) Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif., took over the position with the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) on July 31.  As a […]

Lawrence Livermore National Security, the contractor that operates Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is now accepting applications for its 2023 Community Gift Program. Established in 2008, the Community Gift Program provides annual awards to support nonprofit organizations addressing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics education, community service and philanthropic needs in local and surrounding communities. The […]

Just after 8 p.m. on Thursday, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, which provides a modest boost to civilian and military nuclear weapons modernization programs.  The Senate’s version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), approved 86-11, authorizes the National Nuclear Security Administration to spend $24 billion or so, up […]

Editor’s note: This story replaces the story “NNSA considers new domestic uranium enrichment technology near Oak Ridge” [Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor Vol. 27 No. 29], which contained several errors. The National Nuclear Security Administration wants to establish a pilot program for enriching weapons-grade uranium on American soil by 2030. It’s a sort of back-to-square-one […]

Hensel Phelps, a construction subcontractor working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, recently completed concrete placements for four warehouses that will provide more than a football field’s worth of additional storage capacity and workspace.  Approximately 5,000 cubic yards of concrete were laid for the foundation on June 15, a milestone the lab announced […]

The Defense Department and National Nuclear Security Administration would have just three months to begin development of a nuclear sea-launched cruise missile when the Senate passes its 2024 defense policy bill.  Passed in the Senate by an 86-11 vote on Thursday, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would require that within 90 days of final […]

Delays in producing new plutonium pits at two National Nuclear Security Administration sites are “very disturbing,” given the need to modernize nearly every element of the U.S. nuclear arsenal in coming decades, a former NNSA policy director said Wednesday. “During the Cold War, the U.S. produced up to 2,000 warhead pits per year at the […]

International Atomic Energy Agency officials have carried out additional inspections at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant over the past week without finding any heavy military equipment, explosives or mines, but they are still awaiting access to the rooftops of the reactor buildings, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on July 20. During visits to portions […]

President Joe Biden’s (D) administration wants the U.S. Supreme Court to declare lower court injunctions blocking COVID-19 vaccinations for most federal employees moot because the executive order at the root of the case has ended. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar filed the petition for a writ of certiorari July 21 asking the high court, an independent […]

The Department of Energy wants a domestic supply of high-assay, low-enriched uranium for use in nuclear reactors and for other purposes and is inviting industry to hear about the program next month.  Ahead of an “anticipated action to acquire” high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy is holding an industry […]

The Senate has left town until next week, leaving the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without a vote. Senators were scheduled to resume consideration fo the bill on Tuesday. The Senate’s version of the fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill includes $24.1 billion for nuclear defense programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration, almost exactly in […]

Over the next decade, the U.S. will spend an estimated $756 billion on modernizing and maintaining its current and future nuclear forces, or about $75 billion per year, a new report from the Congressional Budget Office found.  Looking at the 10 years from 2023 to 2032, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), found that U.S. spending […]

The recent unprecedented expansion of the Los Alamos National Laboratory workforce will continue for at least another year before leveling out at around 2,0000 employees, a senior lab official told the Los Alamos County Council on Tuesday. All told, there are 17,244 people employed at Los Alamos in various capacities from professional National Nuclear Security […]

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday passed a spending bill that would give the National Nuclear Security Administration nearly $2 billion more than the $22.1 billion the White House sought and almost exactly the $24 billion the House has proposed.  The bill, approved 29-0 by the committee, also includes larger-than-requested appropriations for plutonium pit factories […]

An amendment to the Senate’s fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act bill could make it easier for nuclear-site employees to receive compensation for beryllium-related illnesses associated with their work. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) successfully won approval for her amendment to the Senate version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill Thursday.  The amendment […]

Whoever next manages the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, could hold the job for 20 years under a contract worth up to $30 billion now that a final pair of five-year options periods have been approved by senior officials.  A final request for proposals (RFP) for a new management contract at […]

Nearly $19 billion is included in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2024 spending bill for National Nuclear Security Administration nuclear-weapon programs, with funding boosts for planned facilities that will process plutonium and uranium for refurbished nuclear weapons. The Appropriations Committee began marking up the Energy And Water Development Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Bill Thursday morning. The […]

President Joe Biden’s nomination of Patricia Lee of South Carolina to serve on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has been submitted to the Senate, the White House said late Wednesday. Lee, who has worked in radiation protection for decades and is currently portfolio manager for the digital enterprise at the Department of Energy’s Savannah […]

Wagner Group mercenaries entered a Russian nuclear base where they hoped to steal backpack-sized nuclear weapons to use as bargaining chips during their short-lived mutiny last month, Ukraine’s chief spymaster Kyrylo Budanov told Reuters in a recent interview. U.S. and other Western officials insist that Wagner mercenaries were never within reach of Russian nuclear weapons […]

Released midday Tuesday, the Senate Armed Service’s version of the 2024 defense policy bill boosts spending on nuclear weapons by $276 million and increases overall funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration, compared with the agency’s funding request.  Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Ranking Member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) jointly […]

National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Jill Hruby and nonproliferation lead Corey Hinderstein visited Georgia in June, a nation the agency says is on the frontlines of nuclear-materials smuggling.  The NNSA has “extensive ties” to Georgia, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and has worked in the country for more than 20 years on […]

Los Alamos County, N.M., home to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos National Laboratory is under stage 1 fire restrictions by order of the county’s fire marshal. The restrictions, brought on by seasonal high temperatures and dry conditions, went into effect July 7, the Los Alamos County Fire Department (LAFD) said in a statement. […]

If confirmed as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. C. Q. Brown vows support for nuclear weapons modernization efforts underway at the U.S. National Laboratories and will undertake a review of the nuclear arsenal to identify capability “gaps,” he said in recent written testimony.  Brown testified before the Senate […]

The Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act narrowly passed the House of Representatives on Friday morning, when four lawmakers from each party crossed the aisle for a final vote of 219 to 210. Emerging earlier this week from the House Rules Committee, the bill ended up with a few additions pertaining to the National […]

In a letter earlier this year, two Democratic appropriators in Congress blasted the secretary of energy about moving money around in the Department of Energy’s budget to cover the soaring cost of the Uranium Processing Facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn. “We write to you to express our deep concerns about the Executive Branch’s fiscal year […]